Thought I'd share my thoughts on games here. Haven't watched one minute of Saturdays games yet, will watch over the next couple of days and post in here too.
Williams – Arguably the most improved player in the comp in the last 18 months. Didn’t have the balls to pick him, but has the perfect hybrid rebound/intercept role. Think he can easily be a Top 10-15ish guy this year.
Smith – Outstanding on a wing, kept popping up everywhere. Incredible workrate, seems to have taken the role in his stride.
Daniel- Was quiet early but took almost all the kickouts. Safe option with an exceptionally good floor. Incredibly clean skills.
Martin – Looks a lot fitter than last year, and worked very well with English in negating Grundy.
Dunkley – Looks to be 3rd/4th in line for mid time, but still managed to find a heap of the ball. Will only take an injury to someone ahead of him to absolutely explode.
Bontempelli – Seems to be the one most sacrificed to fit everyone’s midfield time. Spent a fair bit of time forward
Lipinski – Shame he’s lost DPP, looks to have improved once again over the off season. Unfortunately now irrelevant.
Scott – Did some nice things early, then faded. Should hold his spot for the next couple weeks at least.
Macrae – These new rules suit him perfectly, if keeps the role will be the number 1 mid and possibly scorer this year imo. His workrate and ability to link up in the spread from contest is close to the best in the league. Has been locked at M1 for me since SC opened.
Treloar – Didn’t really notice him in the second half, possibly a bit underdone after an interrupted preseason.
Vandermeer – A lot of Zak Butters about him. Enormous pressure and made things happen every time he went near it. Copped a knock in the 3rd quarter and was quieter after that, but prior was on track for 120-130. Play local footy with his cousins with the same surname, so it's nice to see him doing so well.
McNeil – Looked a bit off the pace, and was caught holding the ball a couple of times. May struggle to get named next week.
Dale – Looked really nice across HB, in draft leagues could be a decent waiver pickup.
Moore – Immense. By far the Pies best, withstood an enormous volume of footy inside the defensive 50 in addition to rebounding very well.
Howe – Looked assured in his return from the knee injury. Personally wouldn’t pick him but think he’ll be Top 10-15 at the end of the year.
Crisp – Played a mix of wing/HB/inside mid. Think the role is there for him to be a good pick, the way they got smashed in the midfield didn’t help his SC score at all.
Maynard – Solid as ever down back, took kickouts. Top 5-10 Defender most likely.
De Goey – Personally wouldn’t pick him, but if he kicked straight the 69 could have been 100.
Noble – Played predominately on a wing. Nice draft selection.
Grundy – Big warning signs I feel, with him I don’t think it’s a case of the lower stoppages. Was totally outworked by Martin/English, and showed the same tiredness/sluggishness of last year. Big opportunity next week against Pitto, but at this stage I’m glad I went Flynn R2 instead.
Adams – Looked really underdone, another example of players struggling off limited preseasons.
Pendlebury – One of the worst games I’ve ever seen him play, midfield got smashed, yet still scored 102. From that aspect, upside is there I guess.
Henry/Ruscoe – Absolutely passengers/liabilities. Was at the game and Pies supporters were getting stuck into Henry which I thought was quite stiff. Henry probably playing twos next week.